UAB football stadium 'not a top strategic priority,' Watts says

UAB Blazer fans hopeful a new football stadium is in their school's future may be disappointed by the stance of new university President Ray Watts.

While addressing the University of Alabama at Birmingham's new fundraising campaign, Watts said this week the stadium proposal is "not a top strategic priority for us."

"Because of the uncertainty of the federal budget and the implications of that for an institution like ours, we're going to hold off on any other major capital projects and use the resources we have to be as effective as possible," he said.

But that does not mean all hope for the stadium is dead.

Watts also says the university is in the process of developing a new strategic plan for its athletics program, and a key part of that will be increasing game attendance.

"My initial focus has been to increase the support and attendance of all of our student athletic events, and I think you'll see over the coming year a very intensive program to get our faculty and employees and students out to support our student athletes and our teams," he said.

"If we do that well, and we put together our strategic plan, then all of the other capital items will take care of themselves."